iPhone Sales: Has iPhone X Sold More Than iPhone 8?

Apple released a cell phone in 2017 that costs more than some people’s rent check or mortgage payment. Thanks to its hefty $1,000 price tag, tech media and analysts have been curious to know how well the iPhone X did in comparison to its relatively more affordable counterparts in the iPhone 8 line.

Apple will release quarterly earnings on Tuesday, May 1, providing the public with their first look at how the most recent series of iPhones performed.

All one has to do is read between the lines to see that maybe, just maybe, the iPhone X has not reached expectations.

For example, shares in one tech supplier that makes optical sensors for Apple’s smartphones dropped sharply this week, according to Bloomberg. The Australian firm AMS makes the sensors, which handle things like color and brightness, on Apple’s behalf, but investors clearly feel that demand for the iPhone X is not high enough to instill much confidence.

Investor confidence in Apple has fallen a bit, too. Analysts suggest there just is not a great deal of demand for the iPhone X, around six months after its November release.

This anxiety follows reports from earlier in 2018 that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models outsold the iPhone X, when sales figures from the two lesser models are combined. The 8 and 8 Plus came out in September of last year at more reasonable price points, but with fewer of the fancy bells and whistles than their premium counterpart.

If the iPhone X was truly a sales disappointment, why was that the case?

It could simply be that there are not enough people who are willing and able to buy a $1,000 smartphone within months of its release for it to produce impressive sales figures. Apple may have underestimated income inequality and that most Americans do not upgrade their phones on an annual basis.

There is speculation that the iPhone X was a sales disappointment. Pictured above is an iPhone X on display ahead of its release.Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images